Effect of calcination temperature on the structure of vanadium phosphorus oxide materials and their catalytic activity in the decomposition of 2-propanol

The synthesis of vanadyl phosphate by reaction of an alcoholic solution of V2O5 and o-H3PO4 has been studied. The solids obtained were investigated by various physico-chemical techniques as in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential thermal analysis (DTA) under inert atmosphere. The compounds have been further characterized by infrared and UV–Visible spectroscopies. The isopropanol conversion is carried out to evaluate the catalytic activity of the samples. The isopropanol conversion increases with the reaction temperature from 433 to 503 K for vanadyl phosphorus oxides calcined at a different temperature. However, the conversion attains 100% at 503 K, and the solid calcined at 973 K exhibits high selectivity towards propene (100% at 503 K).